I developed pretty frightening muscle and joint pain in my legs and low back while on Celexa. Same issue with Lexapro. I have switched to Effexor and still have the issues. Celexa was relieving my anxiety but Dr believed my muscle pain and weakness was a side effect of the med so switched me.

Muscle pain is a known side-effect of the serotonergic antidepressants. I'm not surprised that you experienced this with both Celexa and Lexapro as they share the same active chemical, but that it is also happening with Effexor suggests you are particularly susceptible to it (while Effexor is classified as a SNRI it is actually only a SSRI at the doses normally prescribed for anxiety). Ironically, small doses of these antidepressants are also prescribed to treat muscle pain.

Antidepressants biased more towards norepinephrine, aka noradrenaline than serotonin reuptake inhibition are probably your best option. The best of these are the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) desipramine (Norpramin), nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) and doxepin (Sinequan). The TCAs are usually at least as effective as the SSRIs and typically have fewer initial side-effects and withdrawal symptoms on discontinuation, however, they tend to have more ongoing side-effects such as constipation and dry-mouth. These are likely to be milder with desipramine so this would probably be the best initial choice. Mirtazapine (Remeron) is another possibility, however, it is the antidepressant most likely to stop working so I'd only consider it if a couple of the TCAs proved ineffective.

NOTE: I'm not a doctor, and particularly not yours, so there may be factors I'm unaware of. Therefore all advice is of a general nature and you should consult your doctor before following any of it, especially before changing med doses.

2013happy when you say weakness is it like after you have a panic attack your legs feel weak all over or mostly like legs because I am having that too. mine started after going off Prozac for 2 months and now am trying to get back on anti depressants but I still have weakness I also had neck and shoulder pain. I don't know whether to go up on the medicine as I am not sure the weakness is the medicine or me but I am not anxious when I have them.

Thanks for the replies. I guess one way to find out is to taper off of Effexor. I've only been 37.5mg for a few weeks. As unpleasant as that might be it should give an indication of whether the medication is causing it. I will be calling my Dr on Monday as this is getting to be more than just a bit uncomfortable.